1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is suited for utilization in the medical field, and is related to a system and a method for assisting image diagnosis using three dimensional image data. The present invention is also related to a computer readable recording medium having a diagnosis assisting computer program stored thereon.
2. Description of the Related Art
In image diagnosis, there are cases in which images of a subject obtained during recent examinations (hereinafter, referred to as “current images”) are compared against images of the same subject obtained in previous examinations (hereinafter, referred to as “past images”), to confirm changes in symptoms of disease (hereinafter, referred to as “comparative image observation”). For this reason, many diagnosis assisting apparatuses are equipped with the function of selecting past images that represent the same position of a subject within an image which is currently being observed from a database of past images, and displaying the selected past images along with the observed current image.
A common user interface for comparative image observation displays a current image and a past image of the same size alongside each other on the screen of a monitor. An example of such a user interface is illustrated in FIG. 9, FIG. 11, and FIG. 12 of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20090080744. These figures illustrate screens of monitors, on which current images and past images having the same slice positions are displayed alongside each other during comparison of slice images obtained by a CT apparatus or the like. In addition, FIG. 15 of this document illustrates a case in which the contents of display of the monitor screen are switched between a current image and a past image by a scrolling operation. Further, a system in which two or more monitors are connected to a diagnosis assisting apparatus, a group of current images is displayed on one monitor, and groups of past images are displayed on one or a plurality of other monitors, is also proposed.
When using an interface that displays current images and past images alongside each other on the screen of a single monitor or on the screens of a plurality of monitors, physicians who observe the images must view the images while moving their lines of sight vertically and horizontally. Particularly in systems which are equipped with three or more monitors that are arranged vertically and horizontally, there are cases in which the physicians' heads must be rotated in addition to changing their lines of sight. These interfaces are likely to cause fatigue of the eyes and sore shoulders. On the other hand, when using an interface that switches between display of a current image and a past image by a scrolling operation, physicians must perform comparisons while one of the images is not within their fields of view (while retaining one of the images within their memories). This type of operation exerts a burden on the physicians' brains, and is likely to cause nervous fatigue.